Taxi Charity for Military Veterans enables second world war and post-war veterans to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby, Lincoln

A charity has enabled four veterans to pay a special visit to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight — brining back powerful memories of their service.

Second world war veterans Don Turell, Robbie Hall and Peter Greenwood, and post-war veteran Ken Orford visited the flight’s historic hangar at RAF Coningsby on October 22.

Their visit was co-ordinated by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, alongside the RAF base’s team.

Seeing the iconic aircraft of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight — the Lancaster, Dakota, and two Spitfires — brought back ‘wonderful’ memories for all the veterans, and the planes even took to the air during their visit, sharing runway and airspace with the modern Typhoons stationed at RAF Coningsby.

Diane Law-Crookes, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight administration officer at RAF Coningsby, said: “The highlight of working at Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for me, are days where we host our veteran friends. The day was filled with laughter, stories, and a fair amount of cake.

“I am very thankful that the Taxi Charity was able to bring along the veterans. Without them, we would not have met these wonderful people.”

For veteran Robbie Hall, who served in Bomber Command alongside her fiancé Frank, the visit was particularly poignant. Frank was killed during the war, and seeing the aircraft brought back powerful memories of those who never returned.

Meanwhile, Ken Orford, who worked as an aircraft maintenance engineer for over 20 years and said he has “has forgotten more than most people will ever know about aircraft,” proudly wore his 1,000-mile tie for the visit, which symbolises the speed of the Lightning F5 jet.

Dick Goodwin, vice president of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, added: “A huge thank you to everyone at RAF Coningsby for the incredible welcome. Seeing these magnificent aircraft up close was truly special and brought back so many memories for our veterans.

“They were absolutely delighted to have been invited, and the timing was perfect with the Lancaster soon to begin its full overhaul.”

The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans is run by volunteer London cab drivers, and arranges outings, events, and trips across the UK and abroad to thank and support veterans from all services and generations.